and to have reigned as a king; but, instead of that, this heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors: and there he must remain, until the time appointed of the Father, Gal. iv. 1, 2.

Shepherd. Do you think that he was properly begotten with the word of truth? James i. 18; and that the incorruptible seed properly gendered? 1 Peter i. 23; and that the engrafted word was received in meekness? James i. 21. If so, he is of the seed royal, and is a tree of righteousness, however wild by nature the barren stock; and shall be a fruitful field, however dry and parched the fallow ground may have been in times past for that seed can never rot under the clods, Joel i. 17. Nor shall he always remain a dwarf; but shall arrive at the King's stature, in his appointed time.

Steward. That he is the offspring of the universal Sovereign, none of the royal family doubt, as his name stands upon record in the court calendar, and in the genealogy of the seed royal : for they are all the offspring of the Ancient of Days, by faith in the Heir Apparent; and he is expressly styled Little Faith, and that by his Majesty himself. Nor was he ever disowned by his venerable mother, nor by any of the sons and daughters of Zion, nor by any friends of the family, or by any established or domestic servant of the household; they all have, from age to age,

paid a particular attention, and shewed the utmost regard to, Little Faith; and have often received that little one in the King's name, and have received the King by so doing. For, though Little Faith be weak in himself, yet his word has often been weighty and powerful to others; and, when his timorous fits have been upon him, and he has been in fear where no fear was, and has fled when none pursued, as is often the case, whole heathen nations have received a command and a particular charge concerning such feeble ones of the tribe; "Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts, bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." That his Majesty, of his own will, begat him by the word of truth, nobody doubts; and that he was born again of incorruptible seed, that lives and abides for ever, can never be disproved. But still his name is Little Faith: and yet, in one sense of the word, his faith is not little; for, if his Majesty should erect his standard, none are at it sooner than he, rather than be included among the rebels. If the King frowns, none stand in more awe, nor at a greater distance; if he issues out a thundering mandate, he is the first that trembles at his word; and you know the King looks at, and dwells with, those that tremble at his word; and, if a royal warrant be issued out to apprehend and take an enemy, he is

the first that cries out, "Lord! is it I?" and trembles at the thought. So that he is no enemy to the King, nor to any domestic servant, nor to any other, so much as he is to himself. He believes every word that comes out of the King's mouth to be true, and that with unfeigned faith: he stands in awe of the laws of the realm; often expects, for the least offence, to fall under the hottest displeasure of the divine Legislator; and is frequently filled with astonishment, mingled with compunction and gratitude, at the superabounding clemency of his dread Sovereign, in delaying the just execution of the sentence which he knows is due to him, in one sense of the word, and to all the family, none excepted.

Shepherd. If this be the case, it is surprising to me that Little Faith is so weak; for nothing strengthens weaklings more than credence, for it is by that we are to live. If Little Faith credits the report, the joyful sound of the report, then the glad tidings reported must be brought home by the hand of credence; and, if brought home and applied, it becomes nutriment, by which the attentive hearer and obedient receiver is to live, thrive, and grow.

Steward. All this is true: bnt it is not the case here; for, in one sense, Little Faith has too much faith, and in another sense he has too little. If any person, whether friend or foe to the King, comes with any message in the King's name, whether sent by him or not; if it contains heavy

tidings, that there is a rod in brine for Little Faith, or that the King is angry with him; if it amounts either to confiscation of goods, pillory, banishment, imprisonment, or even death itself; it is all credited, and he lives in perpetual expectation of the fullest execution. Thus "the simple believeth every word;" and in this he has too much faith. But, if you bring any good tidings from the King concerning his clemency; his tender care of the little ones of the household; the impartiality of his love; that the weak are as precious to him as the strong; that he will strengthen them in due time; that they shall all come into the drawingroom, sooner or later; that all shall see his face with joy, &c. &c. this he cannot believe: and in this sense his name is Little Faith, but not in the other. And, by these acts of incredulity, Little Faith reflects no small dishonour on his royal Father. Bond, or bastard children, vainly imagine that the King is all clemency, and in their thoughts divest him of all terrible majesty. Little Faith believes his majesty to be terrible, and his clemency to be great where it is shewn; but he cannot stedfastly believe that the King will be propitious to him, which is both his folly and his loss. The former is a bastard and a fool, and debases his Master; the latter is a son, and, by nursing his folly, he dishonours his Father. Besides, there is in our realm a notorious enemy to the King, who for a former act of rebellion was banished the King's presence, favour,

and protection, for ever. This enemy, by his devices, dresses up the King in nothing but clemency to the base-born race; and suggests him arrayed in nothing but terrible majesty to the young princes and Little Faith, in a private way, listens, attends to, and credits, one half that this enemy suggests, so that he often entertains hard thoughts of the King himself; insomuch that, as a propitious Father, he can hardly, at times, find a fixed dwelling either in the thoughts, heart, affections, or even in the credence, of Little Faith. His Majesty often stands at the door and knocks: "If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him," Rev. iii. 20. But, whenever he comes to the apartment of Little Faith, he generally finds him all attention to this rebel; which provokes him to jealousy, and is called the provoking of his sons and of his daughters, Deut. xxxii. 19. Therefore it is but just that Little Faith should be left to have his belly full of such counsel, and to see what his adherence to his Father's enemy will do for him; and that, at some future period, the liar may be discovered in his true colours, and Little Faith be brought, under some future propitious visit of the King, to see, confess, and lament, his unbelief, which is the greatest sin that ever Little Faith was guilty of since he has been in existence, and the greatest that he ever will be guilty of, if he lives a thousand years: for he that believes not, has made the universal Sovereign a liar, 1 John v. 10; and to make him a liar